Neisseria meningitidis serogroup B meningitis relapse after five days of cefotaxime treatment: What went wrong?

Abstract

The authors describe a case of relapse of Neisseria meningitidis serogroup B meningitis in a 21-y-old male, 48 h after a 5-day treatment with cefotaxime 215 mg/kg per day. Brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) excluded the hypothesis of cerebral abscess or central venous septic thrombosis, and transthoracic echocardiography excluded bacterial endocarditis. Complement, properdin, and protein electrophoresis were normal. The plausible explanations for this relapse and the implications for other similar cases are discussed.

Keywords::

• Meningococcal meningitis
• relapse
• cefotaxime failure

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank all the people involved in this study.

Declaration of interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest.